MIT Graduate Charged With Terrorism And Possession Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Late Wednesday, authorities said that an MIT graduate was arrested on charges of terrorism and possession of weapons of mass destruction. His mother said that she thinks her son suffered a “mental breakdown.”

Charged terrorist:

A grand jury in Las Vegas indicted 40 year old Nicolai Howard Mork on Wednesday, on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction related charges. According to police, he was arrested without incident at his home Wednesday night.

Court documents stated that bail was set at $1 million per count, meaning it totaled at $8 million.

According to the indictment, Mork is accused of planting several incendiary devices to be kindled from Oct. 24 to Dec. 31, 2016 in multiple locations in the Las Vegas area, as well as owning components of an inflammable device with the intent to manufacture an explosive, along with possessing a Walther P22 .22 caliber handgun with an altered serial number and a silencer.

Director of the Las Vegas police Homeland Security Division, Deputy Chief Chris Jones, said on Thursday that beginning in late October, investigators discovered a minimum of eight explosive devices in two residential neighborhoods in Las Vegas.

Jones said: “We started seeing this pattern as these devices were deployed and then similarities in the devices and the substances that they were constructed out of. It appears that his actions were basically focused on grievances that he had based on perceived wrongdoings. He thought people were following him. He thought certain groups were following him.”

Jones added that some of the devices had “partially exploded, some had partially ignited while others were still intact.” He continued on saying that no one was hurt.

“Mental breakdown”:

70 year old Joan Mork, the suspect’s mother said that she believed her son suffered “some sort of mental breakdown” and that he was acting paranoid the last time she saw him. She added that Mork was “extremely afraid and angry” with the Church of Scientology and believed he was being monitored by members of the group.

On Thursday night, The Church of Scientology said that Mork “has never had any relationship with the church.” After the recent broadcasts of TV programs critical of the church, it received “more than 400 violent threats.”

Mork has always been a star student in school and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to his mother.

In the indictment, Mork’s full list of charges comprises of one count of an act of terrorism or attempted acts of terrorism, one count of unlawful acts related to weapons of mass destruction, three counts of possession of a component of an explosive or incendiary device with intent to manufacture an explosive or incendiary device, one count of possession of an explosive or incendiary device, one count of possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number, one count of possession of a silencer.